Sunday, December 09, 2007

AMSTERDAM BY THE WATER

AROUND THE CANALS - FEBRUARY 2006

Some name Amsterdam "The Venice of the North". I think it’s a bit unjust, as Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and does have its own personality, without needing the reference to Venice to affirm its own credentials. Amsterdam’s canals, lined by beautiful mansions and old trees, divide the city into ninety small islands, linked together by more than a thousands bridges. This post is dedicated to a stroll around Amsterdam's canals!

"SINGELGRACHT, near the Rijksmuseum – The Singelgracht became the outer limit of the city of Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th Century. The glass-topped barges offer one-hour canal tours around town"

"SINGELGRACHT – American Hotel and Holland Casino International"

"SINGELGRACHT - Hard Rock Café; of course, there is one in Amsterdam! By the water"

"AMSTEL - According to Wikipedia, Amsterdam took its name from the Amstel river. The city developed out of a small fishing village called «Amstelredam», built in the 13th century alongside a dam at the mouth of the river, and was granted city rights around 1300. The Amstel Intercontinental Hotel is one of the best places to stay!"

"MAGERE BRUG (The Skinny Bridge), built around 1670, is a wooden bridge that connects the banks of the Amstel river at Kerkstraat, between Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht"

"PRINSENGRACHT, with houseboats"

"PRINSENGRACHT, with beautiful houses"

"THE STOPERA houses both the city hall of Amsterdam and the Muziektheater, home to De Nederlandse Opera, Het Nationale Ballet, and the Holland Symfonia. The curved front façade of the theatre faces the Amstel River and encloses the 14 metre high open foyers. The exterior of the theatre is built of Friesian red bricks, partly clad in Carrara marble"

"HERENGRACHT (The Gentlemen's Canal) is the first of the three major canals in Amsterdam's city centre. This is the interesting bridge next to the Amstel River"

"HERENGRACHT also has some of the most beautiful mansions in Amsterdam's city centre"

"THE NETHERLANDS MARITIME MUSEUM, housed in the National Naval Depot, which is a former arsenal of the Dutch Navy, brings you back to the past times of the Golden Age and of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)"

"OUDEZIJDS VOORBURGWAAL (what an incredible name) is in the heart of the red-light district, but also has some typical Amsterdam town mansions built for wealthy merchants. The upper floors of the mansions were used as storage space for commodities, which were hoisted up and pulled inside"

"SPIEGELGRACHT – It seems that around the corner is the antiques boulevard of Amsterdam, and though it covers only a 4-block stretch, it's said to be one of Europe's finest antiques hunting grounds. At one end is the Rijksmuseum; at the other is Herengracht's Golden Bend, where Amsterdam's wealthiest burghers once lived in magnificent mansions that have been turned over to banks and embassies. Among the items you might see are old dolls, rare editions, Indonesian puppets, Persian tapestries, landscape paintings, candlesticks, music boxes, old Dutch clocks, and, of course, the little spiegels, or mirrors, that give its name to the canal"

"BLOEMENGRACHT, quite close to Anne Frank's house - now a museum - is one of the smaller canals, which is especially pleasant"

As of yet, I still need to make a visit to Amsterdam (and a return to Portugal!), but what impresses me the most is the amount of places that you've been! Great idea for the map at the bottom of the page. Absolutely incredible. :-)

Hi Gil, I've been to every inch of the Netherlands. Circa 42,000 kmetres sq for the area size, 17 mn total population (compare w/Istanbul pp that's nearly the same:) You see incredibly small country and water percentage ~ 18-20%.Yeap, some name Amsterdam "The Venice of the North". But I am not agree because Venice is Venice. Unique one, and I never meet any city/place similar and gorgeous like Venice till today. Amo io la Venezia come sempre:)

Porto plays very good football not only last eve but every time in accordance to my 'poor' football tracks -I do not like football exceptional UEFA and world cups:) and scored two goals, bravo for you Portugal:) I'm not disappointed because Besiktas was not good at the match -as always;) My favorite team in Turkey is Galatasaray, better than Besiktas.

Oh not a drinker coffee, is it? How do you manage to stay awake, lol;) If or when you happen to drink a cup of coffee then remember Turkey, as it is an indispensable gift to you all:)

Another good team in Turkish football is Fenerbahce, plus Galatasaray. Resulted perfectly! Fenerbahce wins to reach Champions League in the last 16 of the Champions with a 3-1 score over already eliminated CSKA Moscow:) Oleeeyyyy!My personal thinking, F/Bahce deserved the victory yesterday's match and retained its control even during difficult moments and got the win:)

Drawing for the matches to be scheduled on Dec 21st. Get ready, here we come;)

I was off for a week and you have posted twice, with a tremendous lot of stuff! Have been to Amsterdam several times, but I obviously still have a lot of things to see. Plan to go back early next year, so this will be a good guide!

THANK YOU!!!!! Gil, For showing so very well my DUTCH capital city AMSTERDAM! Wow! I lived at the Amstel, and worked on the HERENGRACHT, yes you made this woderfull photo's of my beloved city AMSTERDAM! This is where I walked daily and I still do at my weekend trips, I ate last week in Amsterdam, just 15 minutes from my home...

Have a laugh, Come and look at my blog and see my serie's of CREATIVE alternative christmas decoration. Have a great weekend!

Gil!THat's really great we're still in Amsterdam! You're right about comparission, we say in spanish "las comparaciones son odiosas" and that's true because each city has its own spirit, and Amsterdam is very special, don't you think?Have a great day my friend! :)

Hi Everybody. Thanks for your visits and comments. They’re always much appreciated. I’m sorry I couldn’t reply earlier, but my last weeks were awful: an urgent matter to deal up to December 24th; a professional trip from 13 through 16 December, and now another urgency to be dealt with on the 26th through 28th, and then January 3rd up to January 14th… Anyhow, let’s forget this and I wish you all a great holiday season!

B.C.You should put Amsterdam in your top list!

Bob,There you found a nice pretext to go through Amsterdam… and join Bolscocktails to Whisky! ;))

Marie,Lucky? It’s always the story of the wineglass: half full or half empty? Still so many places I’ve never been to… ;-(

Letitia (Freefalling),Lisbon lemon tree: did you know that «the Lisbon Lemon tree originated in the very cold snow-covered Himalayas and were being grown and cultivated in Palestine during the first century, where the lemon and the lemon tree were exported to Rome»? Great Google!You’re right about cars falling into canals; I read once that every week a car falls into the canals, but it’s probably exaggerated…

Dot,It’s time to get there!

Sue,Thanks. Being a fan of the Conch Republic, I adore your Key West pictures!You have every reason to get back to Amsterdam asap! ;))

Moi,I’m always happy to bring back good memories…

Ruth,I’m glad you enjoyed!

Lv2,Glad that your computer is running again and thanks for visiting and commenting!

Dalicia,Three nights are a bit short; don’t you want to get back? ;-)

Rowena,Your return to Lisbon will be much welcomed! Drop a line when it happens!The map is a bit misleading because it shows countries visited; so if I manage to get, for instance, to Delhi, whole India will be coloured. Anyhow, it’s not bad; but I always feel that there is still too much left… ;((

Paul, (Nikon)Thanks. I also like those “dusky” pictures…

Titania Starlight,Take the plane…

Joy,Leo,Ash,Kalyan,Pijush,Thanks! However, it’s the city that deserves most of the credits… ;))

Dick,That picture is also one of my favourites, and I had the «feeling» when I took it…

Roentarre,Good choice!

99,Herengracht is stunning; and unbeatable when the light helps!It’s always a pleasure reading your texts at 99!

Jenndz,Backpakker,Amsterdam is wonderful in all seasons, but if you want to see the bulb fields blossoming, book your trip for the end of next April and you may even get to see the Bollenstreek Flower Parade…

Ming,Good choice to put Amsterdam on the top list!I checked the Times site and found out that I’ve actually been to 30 of those 53 places, and in fact close to 8 more of them; as you see it’s not such a small world, and there is always much more to see than what you’ve seen…Interesting was to find out that Lisbon comes in nr. 2 of the list. It definitely deserves a trip, and you would make a great choice to start your next European tour by flying NYC-Lisbon!

Nihal,Agree: Venice is Venice, and Amsterdam is Amsterdam!F.C.Porto is doing well, except last night for the Portuguese Championship – first time defeated this year; I think they were already thinking of the holiday season, rather than playing as they should…Fenerbahce has a site in Portuguese language. No wonder; with so many Brazilians playing there… But FCP is not going to meet F/Bahce…

Piika,Good taste, it’s what you have!

Peter,Hope you had a great time in Sweden. With a 4h11m Thalys train trip from Paris to Amsterdam, you’re on the road…

Lara,Thanks for your visits and comments!

JoAnn,Don’t mention! It’s always a pleasure strolling around Amsterdam! You are the lucky one to be so close… ;)Have enjoyed seeing your X-mas decorations and the other recent posts at your blob!

Thanks for some really splendid photographs! I've added a link to your thread from our travel community at trivago as I'm certain that visitors to our Amsterdam pages would find it just as interesting as I. Keep up the good work!Greetings from Cape Town,Pierre

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PRE-DIGITAL ERA

This blog started with the pictures taken in the digital era, which means from November 2000 onwards. For the pre-digital period - photos scanned either from paper or from negatives - I created the Revivals:BLOGTROTTER 70s & 80sandBLOGTROTTER 90s.